Malik arrested, shifted to central jail Srinagar

Chairman of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Muhammad Yasin Malik was arrested by Police ahead of a protest program against growing attacks on Kashmiri women and incidents of braid chopping, a spokesman said on Friday.

JKLF spokesman as per the statement issued here said that Police today morning raided the residence of Malik and arrested him. “He was scheduled to lead a protest against growing braid cuttings incidents,” he said.

Malik as per the statement along with all arrested activists have now been shifted to central jail Srinagar on a judicial remand.

Despite arrests, JKLF leaders and activists along with common people from many walks of life later gathered at JKLF office Abi Guzar and held a peaceful protest rally, the statement said.

Holding placards depicting slogans against braid chopping and raising slogans in favor of freedom and against attacks on women, the protesters marched towards Lal Chowk.

Police and other forces blocked the way leading towards Lal Chowk and tried to stop the peaceful march but protesters marched towards Press enclave where they sat on peaceful sit-in, witnesses said.

“Immediately police swung into action and arrested JKLF leaders and activists and shifted them to police station,” spokesman said.

JKLF vice chairman Showkat Ahmad Bakhshi has also been placed under house arrest from today morning.

While condemning the assaults on chastity of Kashmiri women and growing attacks of braid chopping, Malik in his message from incarceration has said that these attacks are meant to create fear psychosis among Kashmiris and make their lives more vulnerable. “Police and forces are very quick while dealing with peaceful protests and protesters and show promptness while identifying people, organizations and abettors behind any happening even before the actual occurrence and are very swift while putting teen-age protesters in jails under the garb of stone pelting, seem clueless about the attacks on the chastity of Kashmiri women,” he said.

He said that hundreds of braid cutting incidents have been reported throughout Kashmir but police has maintained ‘criminal silence’ on all these ugly incidents but two false reports from Delina and Bandipora on the issue have provoked quick police response threatening common people instead of the culprits.

Malik said that conspiratorial lethargy of police while indentifying and arresting the culprits of braid chopping and even at many places police intervention to safeguard them are raising many questions and have made all this a very fishy game.

He said that attacking women and chopping their braids is actually a ploy to threaten Kashmiris and make their lives more and more vulnerable. “Enemies of freedom, humanity and human values, want to create a fear psychosis among common masses in Kashmir but we want to tell these enemies that Kashmiris in past have successfully dealt with similar kinds of intimidations including ghost hoaxes, unidentified gunmen, child kidnappings and so on and will (Insha-Allah) defeat these wicked designs this time too,” he said.

While appealing people to remain vigilant, united and resilient against these growing attacks on women, Malik said that “this a plot of enemy to defeat us psychologically and we all with our unity and community based vigilantism will have to defeat these ugly designs.”

Asking people to refrain from harming innocents while dealing with braid choppers, JKLF chairman said that reports of beating innocents in the name of braid chopping have been coming in from some areas which are actually a sorry state of affairs. “We have to remain vigilant against braid choppers, but at the same time we will have to make distinction between culprits and innocents and refrain from inflicting harm to any innocent,” Malik added.